Copyright by Luciane de Oliveira Rocha 2014 The Dissertation Committee for Luciane de Oliveira Rocha certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: OUTRAGED MOTHERING: Black Women, Racial Violence, and the Power of Emotions in Rio de Janeiro’s African Diaspora Committee: Edmund T. Gordon, Supervisor Charles R Hale Joy James Omi Osun Joni L Jones Joao H. Costa Vargas Jurema Pinto Werneck OUTRAGED MOTHERING: Black Women, Racial Violence, and the Power of Emotions in Rio de Janeiro’s African Diaspora by Luciane de Oliveira Rocha, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2014 Dedication For the mothers in my life Natalina and Otavina, who mothered me as a grandchild. Nilza, my forever-loved godmother. Nésia, Iya mi, forever connected through birth. To my fieldwork mothers who made me filhinha. To Marilene, outraged mother who died while I was conducting this research. To the children in my life Alexandre, who made me irmã. Ana Luiza and Rafael, who made me an aunt. Pedro Leonardo, Gabriela, Miguel Felipe, Sofia, and Miguel, my godchildren. To the future. Acknowledgements The five-year-old Luciane, the girl who used to make the lessons quickly just to have time to suck the pink pacifier, would never think that 30 years later she would be finishing a Doctoral Degree in Anthropology. The journey was not easy; and, I have many people to thank for being a significant part of this process. Sebastião, Nésia e Alexandre. Mãezinha, obrigada por todos os dias gastos trabalhando em sua máquina de costura. Sua borboleta voou. Quando eu crescer, eu quero ser igual à você. Paizinho, busquei as ferramentas necessárias para entender o porquê lhe faltou uma toalha, uma caneca e uma escova de dentes; A coisinha do pai lutará para que nunca mais lhe falte nada. Irmão, você é minha alegria, minha paixão. Te amo mesmo antes de você chegar, e sigo na luta de preparar um mundo melhor pra você, Luiza e Rafael. Vocês três são o melhor que tenho nesta vida. Obrigada por tudo. Special thanks to my committee members. You all are great and it was my privilege to have you on my committee. I am grateful for having Dr. Edmund T. Gordon as my adviser. Hello, adviser! Thank you for your questions, comments, and for always challenging me to pursue excellence in my scholarship and reminding me of the positive aspects of the African Diaspora. Our existence is beautiful, and the existence of many people is better because of you. Thank you! Dr. Charles Hale, companheiro Charlie, thank you for the trust in my scholarship and politics. I am grateful for having interacted with you in academia and in RAIAR. v Despite the closed eyes in meetings and discussions, your commitment to promoting justice and equality of power never sleeps. I am grateful for your persistence in showing to the world that a committed anthropology can help on this endeavor. Thank you! I also thank Melissa Smith, Sofia and Amalia Smith Hale. Obrigada por todo carinho, companheiras!! Dr. Joy James, thank you for creating in your students the passion for liberation. You have brought me to highly theoretical places with simple questions that remain burning in my mind that we have much to do. Thank you for giving me “Ida B. Wells” and gym leggings. The body needs to be strong to face the “horrors and other writings.” Thank you! Dr. Omi Osun Joni L Jones, thank you for bringing out the performer in me. I am grateful for your care for my sanity while conducting and writing this dissertation. I will miss the jingle of your bracelets in the aisles warning academia and academics that a powerful black woman is arriving. You showed me that our presence should never go unnoticed. Thank you! Dr. João H. Costa Vargas, thank you for your commitment to building bridges between academia and social organizations. You have transformed the life of several poor black prominent scholars, marginalized in Brazil’s academy, like myself. Your scholarship shows us that it is possible to create valuable academic work while rooted in the black struggle. Thank you! Dr. Jurema Werneck, “pree, pree,” rings the bell. “É Jurema, só ela toca a campainha duas vezes assim.” You ring the bell in my mind in the simplest conversations. vi I appreciate your strength and passion for fighting for a better life for us, black women. I am grateful for having the privilege to be your partner in Criola and to learn from you. Thank you! I want to thank Monique Ribeiro for reading, editing and commenting previous papers and for hearing my ideas even when it was just crazy ideas. I thank Maria Andrea for the Skype sharing, relaxing, dreaming and analyzing moments. I also thank Alysia Carey and Agatha Oliveira for reading and commenting on different chapters of this study. I thank Celeste Henery for had accepted the job of making my English more American. Thank you Juli Grigsby for the Pomodoros. It was a good nap timer. Obrigada Danielle Cruz Oliveira pela ajuda com recortes de jornal e Alessandra Santos por me acompanhar na viagem pra entrevista. Thank you! Em Criola, agradeço à Luceni Ferreira, Jurema Werneck, Lucia Xavier, Sônia Santos, Regina Xavier, Anazir de Oliveira (Dona Zica), Aparecida Patroclo e Marmo Silva. Minhas Iyás queridas Mãe Nilce, Mãe Meninazinha da Oxum, Mãe Beata de Yemanjá, Mãe Tânia de Iemanjá, Mãe Torodi de Ogum. Obrigada pelos ensinamentos e pela oportunidade dada e não desperdiçada. Sigamos firmes no empoderamento das mulheres negras e na luta para mostrar que temos poder. Na Rede de Comunidades e Movimentos Contra a Violência, agradeço à Patrícia Oliveira, Dona Ana, Dona Julia, Dona Izildete, Mauricio Campos, Márcia Honorato, Marilene de Souza, Alexandre Magalhães, Juliana Farias, Deize Carvalho, Márcia Jacinto, Fábio Araújo, e Gláucia Marinho. Vocês são fantásticxs na luta pelo direito à vida. vii At the African and African Diaspora Department, I thank Anna-Lisa Plant, Elizabeth Thompson Beavers, Leonie Jones, Alan Baker (trouble!!), John Fleming, Nia Crosley and Tony Araguz. At the Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, I thank Stephanie Lang and Cherise Smith. At the Department of Anthropology, I thank Adriana Dingman, Heather Nathanson-Flowers, and Rolee Rios. I thank Professors Christen Smith, Maria Franklin, Kamran Ali, James Brow, Shannon Speed, Cecilia Balli, Craig Campbell, Suzanne Seriff, Douglas Foley, Eric Tang, Omoniyi Afolabi, Kali Gross, Debora Paredez, Juliet Hooker, Kevin Foster, Lyndon Gill, and Fehintola Mosadomi. Thank you for the support, comments, suggestions and intellectual challenges. At the Graduate School, I thank Renee Babcock. I would like to thank the academics, activist and organic intellectuals who talked with me during fieldwork and in the writing process and provided me comments, suggestions, critiques and encouragement to pursue this work. Thank you José Claudio Souza Alves (pelo poema também!), Marilene Lima, Patricia Oliveira, Anazir de Oliveira, Bárbara Soares, Aline Gonçalves, Luis Eduardo Soares, Lucia Xavier, Aparecida Patroclo, Ignacio Cano, Vera Malagutti, Marcos Antônio Guimarães, Fábio Araújo, Márcio Hilário, Sandro Hilário, Fábio Rodrigo Penna, Osmundo Pinho, Patricia Tovar, Pamela Calla, Irma Licia Velasquez, and Leith Mullings. I thank the generous grants of Anna Luiza Ozorio de Almeida Field Research Grant; TIAA-CREF Ruth Simms Hamilton Research Fellowship; the Inter American Foundation Grassroots Fellowship Program; the Activist Research Grant Initiative from the Warfield viii Center for African and African American Studies, the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. I also thank the John Warfield Center for African and African American Studies for the Summer Travel Grants. Agradeço por todo amor à: Monique, florzinha, “nun terria com seguido cen você.” Ter sua amizade constante e ascendente foi fundamental neste processo. Encontrar a sua linda alma aqui foi uma das coisas mais importantes que me ocorreu. Maria Andrea e Marcela (tem sorvete?!), vocês são meu modelo de perseverança e indepêndencia. Queria Maria, obrigada por seu entusiasmo, sinceridade, comprometimento e sensatez. Dora, mermã!! Você me inspira coragem. Te amo demais!! Obrigada por todo encorajamento e por alimentar a diva que há em mim . Dani, entre quartos e despejos, te agradeço muito. Brigada, amiga!! (com voz de Dani). Obrigada às amigas Luciana, Eliane, Simone pelos momentos de procrastinação na internet. Obrigada aos amigos e amigas de capoeira: Mestre Pelé, Neném, Magoo, Milena, Quepão, Martinha, Vitinho e Kenia. Vocês mantiveram minha sanidade durante o trabalho de campo. Obrigada! Eliana Antonio, gracias por cuidar de mí en un momento de intenso confinamiento. Fatima Valdivia, gracias por las palomitas! Kaka Omowale and Rosangela Valle, cumpri a missão! Obrigada pelo apoio político e espiritual. I would like to thank my diasporic friends who created a (mostly) healthy and creative political and academic environment throughout these years: Sonia Santos, Monique Ribeiro, Maria Andrea dos Santos Soares e Marcela, Dora Santana, André Luiz ix de Souza, Gustavo Mello, Agatha Oliveira, Lorena Martinez, Daniela Gomes, Marcia Lopes, Viviane Santiago, Amely Martins, Matheus Laureano, Barbara Abadia-Rexach, Juli Grigsby, Jaime Alves, Andrea Lisboa, Silva de Castro, Czarina Thelen, Saikat Maitra, Maia Berry, Raja Swami, Courtney Morris, Mohan Ambikaipaker, Alix Chapman, Derrick Washington, Chris Loperena, Chelsi West Ohueri, Celeste Henery, Sade Anderson, Giovanny Batz, Claudia Chavez, Sarah Ihmound, Sofia Laparidou (Bravo!), Nedra Lee, Elizabeth Lewis, Denis Martinez, Amely Martins, Indulata Prasad, Elizabeth Velasquez, and Traci-Ann Wint. Thank you for all the conversation, discussion in class, encourajamet, and patience. I hope we can always pursue academic integrity and collaborate in the near future in our careers.